Brief Introduction: Mati Temple scenic area is located in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, 65 kilometers in the south of Zhangye City. It is a tourist area integrating the art of Buddhism grottoes ,natural scenery of Qilian Mountain and the customs of Yugur nationality customs. The grottoes consist of seven parts,which are upper, middle and lower Guanyin Caves, Shengguo Temple, Puguang Temple, Thousand Buddha Caves, Golden Pagoda Temple. There are totally more than 70 grottoes and shrines, which were built in Beiliang period. 'Ma' means horse in Chinese, and 'Ti' means horse hoof. Mati Temple is named after the mark of legendary horse hoof was left on a brick in the cave. Folklore says that the horse hoof mark was left from the heavenly horse while it rest here. The legendary mark of horse hoof is still existing in Mati hall of Puguang temple, which can be the treasure of the whole temple. The unique feature of Mati temple grottoes is that there are more than 500 grottoes and niches in the thousand Buddha caves, which are of a large scale. The grottoes of thirty-three layers of heaven in the Puguang temple consists of 7 layers and twenty-one caves, which were arranged with pagoda-shape. The natural environment in the Mati temple area is so beautiful. Green mountains , elegent water show, rare mountain peaks and particular caves can be  four unique. Tourists can also stay in the tent of Yugur minority, drink barley wine, eat meat, experience the unique lifestyle and cultural characteristics of the grassland nomads.

At beginning, Guo Yu, a famous scholar of Dunhuang in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, initiated to develop Buddhism while living in seclusion and lecturing. It was originally named Xiegu Grottoes, and then it got its name because of the mark of the horse hoof in the cave 8. Mati Temple in the Beiliang period , at first was Han Buddhism temple, and then gradually Tibetan Buddhism was preached here in the 11th century. With the change of history, it gradually evolved into a temple combining Tibetan and Han Buddhism. Since the establishment of the temple, the Buddhism here has been extremely prosperous. At the peak the number of the monks can reach more than 1000 people. In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there were still more than 50 monks, which is sufficient to show the glory of Mati Temple in history.

However, due to the northern warlords at that time, coupled with the succession of dynasties, and many battles happened ,the original large-scale buildings of Mati Temple were destroyed in the war. Unfortunately during the Cultural Revolution, Mati Temple was seriously damaged again. Not only the grotto murals in the temple were almost destroyed, but even the buildings outside the grottoes were completely gone. The grottoes of thirty-three layers of heaven, the Mati hall , the Hiding Buddha grottoes, the Shengguo Temple and the thousand Buddha grottoes, were mostly restored after the reform and opening up of the People's Republic of China . The main buildings in the temple, such as the Daxiong Hall, the Standing Buddha hall, the Guanyin Hall, the Medicine Master Hall and so on, are mostly the old relics of the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, which is actually the great luck in the unfortunate situation.

The Level: AAAA tourists attraction

Admission fee : 74 yuan/person

Opening time : 8:00a.m.—6:00p.m.

Visiting Time : 2-3 hours

Better Seasons to Visit : all seasons

Travel Tips: 1, The different spots of the scenic area are not so close, so you need walk more in the certain points;

2, When you are going to climb the grottoes of 33 layers of heaven, please notice there is only one narrow path for going up and returning,which is more challenging;

3, The sea level of Mati temple area is around 2400m-2600m. Although it is not so high, please wear more clothes or take some medicine for altitude sickness according to the actual condition of your own body situation;

4, Please respect local religion and customs;

5, Do not greet to monks by shaking hands, hugging or touching the head; Instead , you may put your palms together;

6, Do not talk with the monks about killing, marriage, eating fish or other improper words

7, Do not talk loudly, walk in disorder or touch the Buddhism statues;

8, If you just meet the Buddhism practice in the temple, please keep quiet  or quietly leave;

9, As visiting, it is forbidden to scribble, pick flowers and break woods.

Related Tours:

7 Days Terrific Silk Road Tour                8 Days  Charming Silk Road Tour  

  9 Days Hexi Corridor Tour                   12 Days Silk Road Adventure Tour

 10 Days Essence Silk Road Tour           15 Days Silk Road Chanllenging Tour

 7 Days Zhangye to Dunhuang Tour        10 Days Charming Silk Road Tour